Seth Low speeches, 1878-1916

From 1881 to 1885, while still in his early 30s, Seth Low served as mayor of Brooklyn, which at the time was the third-largest city in the United States. In that role, he greeted the politicians that opened the Brooklyn Bridge on May 24, 1883, forever linking Brooklyn to Manhattan. Having graduated from Columbia College as valedictorian in 1870, just twenty years later he was named Columbia's eleventh president (1890-1901). In that role he led the critical move of the University from Midtown Manhattan to Morningside Heights, underwrote the construction of the first building on the site with a one million dollar gift in memory of his father, oversaw the construction of its campus by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, and secured trustee approval to change the name of the institution from Columbia College to Columbia University, while retaining the locational identification, "in the City of New York." He resigned as president to become the second mayor of the newly consolidated City of New York. He pursued an active role in public service for the rest of his life, becoming president of the National Civic Federation in 1907 and president of the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1914.